Page 145 of Love ad Lib
‘But what about the money you got from Foxy?’
‘That hasn’t paid off all my debts.’
‘But you’re not paying rent anymore.’
‘And I’m not exactly raking it in doing improv, either! It’s going to take me months to get back into the black and even longer to build up my savings. You have to pay me back.’
‘I will, I promise, Lib-Lob. Just help me out for a couple more months and I’ll find a way.’
‘What’s your plan? Are you going to take up that teaching job you were offered at the college?’
He screwed up his face as if she’d just suggested he roll about in dog shit.
‘Jesus, Libby. Teaching is for professional failures. I just need time to reach out to my models, get them to buy their pictures off me. Then I’ll be able to pay you back.’
She crossed her arms, trying to keep her emotion tied up inside. ‘I can’t help you.’
‘You’ll think of something,’ he said with a smile. ‘You always do.’
He kissed her on the cheek before she could stop him, then quickly walked to the stairs and jogged down them without a backwards glance.
29
Lorna Ferguson met Henry in reception and buzzed him through security.
She handed him a visitor’s pass on a lanyard. ‘Nice to see you again. Come on through.’
After his attack on James, they’d revoked his access to the Conqueror building. The pass hung around his neck like a sign announcing his fall from grace.
Lorna beckoned. ‘This way.’
Henry made an effort to appear relaxed. He needed this job and the money that came with it. But he wasn’t excited about returning to work. The enforced holiday had finally put the brakes on the never-ending train ride of his life, and now that it had stopped, he didn’t know how to start it back up again. He didn’t want to spend twelve hours a day in front of a computer screen and his nights schmoozing clients in bars. He wanted to be with Libby.
He was drowning in his feelings for her, but did she want or need him? Her insistence on paying for the damage to Jack’s flat was like a knife twisting in his guts. He’d caused this mess, but she was paying for it. And when she turned down his offer of help finding her work with other City firms, it felt like she was turninghimdown. She hadn’t contradicted him when he’d told Lucas he was her boyfriend, but she hadn’t agreed with him either.Fuck’s sake!He hadn’t known this level of insecurity since secondary school.
He flexed his fingers to stop them tightening into fists at the thought of Lucas. Was there really any reason to hate him so viscerally? Technically, he hadn't done anything wrong. He was one of Libby’s friends and had stepped in to check Henry wasn’t taking advantage of her.
But there was just something about Lucas that made his skin crawl. The way he’d kissed her in the coffee house? Or how he didn’t seem to care about her even as a friend? Maybe because his art was based on painting women’s vaginas? Or because Libby had been in love with him?
Upstairs, a man was waiting for them in a small conference room with glass walls. He stood as they entered.
‘Henry Foxbrooke?’
He nodded.
‘I’m Mike Richards. I work alongside Lorna. She’s asked me to sit in on this meeting.’
Mike was enormous. He looked like he should be playing tighthead prop on a rugby team. Did Lorna think she needed a bodyguard in case Henry kicked off?
‘Please, Henry, take a seat.’ Lorna slid into the one next to Mike.
Henry sat on the other side of the table, taking slow breaths. He felt like he was back at school, knowing he was in trouble but not sure what the punishment was going to be.
‘So, Henry,’ Lorna began. ‘How was your time off?’
I paid someone to be my fake girlfriend. I turned thirty. I fell in love.
The revelation hit him like a punch to the chest. Was he in love with Libby? The smile spread across his face. Of course, he was.
